Start, Paul Ricard, 2019

Rate the race: 2019 French Grand Prix

2019 French Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the French Grand Prix.

RaceFans has held polls on every F1 race since 2008 to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2019 French Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (1%)
  • 9 (0%)
  • 8 (0%)
  • 7 (5%)
  • 6 (10%)
  • 5 (14%)
  • 4 (14%)
  • 3 (22%)
  • 2 (17%)
  • 1 (17%)

Total Voters: 299

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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100 comments on “Rate the race: 2019 French Grand Prix”

  1. 3. Appalling

    1. I bumped it up for a 4 because of the last lap. But that itself only happened because one of the cars broke, rather than the cars genuinely being that close

      1. I went for a 2 for that last lap this was boring as hell

        1. I ran with a “1” …. a snooze-fast … I read the obits in the morning fish wrap …

  2. A race of nothing.

    1. this has become a season of nothing. started out with a lot of promise and quickly turned sour.

    2. Agreed. Voted 1 (zero is not an allowed choice.) Grid 1,2,3,4 = results 1,2,3,4. Boring. Sad for Norris… but now more lawyer/bureaucratic squabbling.

  3. Pedro Andrade
    23rd June 2019, 15:41

    “Get in there Lewis!” – Most commonly uttered phrase in 2019, worldwide.

  4. 3/10, and only because Bottas/Leclerc and Norris/Ricciardo/Raikonnen gave us something exciting in the last few laps.

  5. An OK race. Neither a classic nor a bore-fest.

    1. Not a bore fest? What was so mildly exciting to you that it wasn’t a bore fest?

      1. And you want all cars crashing into each other, and a Winner decided by a Hamster choosing the can with one of the name of finishing drivers?

        1. @dallein
          i recommended @knightameer “Can someone please recommend another racing series that is a bit more competitive at the front?”

          this one
          “i recommend you watch any demolition derby tournaments… not only they are very competitive, they are out right unpredictable! moreover penalties are a little relaxed on pushing eachother off track or coming back to track to take a position back… you will not be disappointed”

  6. This is proving to be the least entertaining season under Mercedes dominance.
    Wake me up then another team manages to win a race.

  7. Get in there Lewis!!
    Boring race tho!

  8. 3 from me too. Couple of more like these and I don’t bother watching F1 anymore, after ~20 years.

    1. Me too, just a 3.
      France needs to keep a Grand Prix but not at this particular track.

    2. I am shocked you survived 2000-2004, and especially 2004.
      2005-2008 were also quite one-sided.
      And 2010-2013 were just as well.

      I guess you say that now, because your team is not on the winning side. Too bad

      1. Get your facts in order and do not bend the truth anymore: actually only 2002 and 2004 were dominant years for Ferrari, comparable to 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019. In 2000, 2001 and 2003 Ferrari won only half of the races. 2000, 2001, 2003 are comparable to 2017-2018. In 2000 McLaren was pretty much equal to Ferrari, it was M.Schumacher who made the difference and the fact that McLaren did not have a no.1, so each 1 got 4 wins in the end. In 2001 Ferrari had the best car overall, but not a dominant car by any means. Even worse in 2003. Some of us still remember Raikonnen was actually a title contender and lost the champ by 2 points, and that because he had 2 more DNFs compared to M.Schumacher. Schumacher got only 1 DNF. Otherwise, RAI would have been champ in 2003. Then, McLaren and Williams finished very close to Ferrari in the constructors champ, like 10points (=25points today). Then again, reliability played quite a significant role too for Ferrari between 2000-2004 compared to McLaren and Williams. As you can see, in 2019 Mercedes is setting new records. Only 1/3 of the season has passed and VET is already more than 2 wins behind HAM regarding the points. And Ferrari is the 2nd best car. RBR doesn’t even matter anymore.

        1. It is not me who are bending the truth.
          Get over it.

          1. Ferrari won 6 championships between 1999 and 2004.

            I remember people whining about Ferrari in 2000-2004… and whining in RBR era… even, as you say, the competition was closer… though only sometimes.

            I don’t believe for a second, that if Mercedes had more competition during the last years, but the same result, you wouldn’t be whining.

        2. petebaldwin (@)
          23rd June 2019, 17:49

          @mg1982 Yeah he’s already been shown how he’s wrong multiple times – there’s no point in trying.

  9. Pedro Andrade
    23rd June 2019, 15:43

    I usually complain about people with rose tinted glasses saying that F1 now is terrible but…

    Today’s race was horrendous.

  10. Who would have thought the new F1 theme music is the most interesting part of a race weekend.

  11. Just when the race was beginning to get interesting it ended.
    Awesome racing in the last 2 laps. Lec could have gotten Bot.

    3/10 but for the last 2 laps. Overall 6/10

  12. Distinctly average race 5/10

  13. If F1 wasn’t on ESPN there is no way I’d pay for the F1 streaming service to watch these just flat out boring races. If I wanted to watch a racing series where it is all about who has the best start, I’d go to the closest NHRA race.

  14. 4. Pretty boring for most despite a few good overtakes throughout. I think the track just has far too much run off. If it was street circuit or just some gravel the layout would actually be alright.

  15. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    23rd June 2019, 15:46

    That was an exceptionally, stunningly, boring race. The most exciting part was the bollard.

  16. This is the sorry state of current F1 … And people have the stupidity to talk down FE and Indycar as something lesser.

  17. I gave it a 2, what’s become of the sport I love?

  18. Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
    23rd June 2019, 15:48

    Unfortunately not great. I gave it a 4 since we lost most of the midfield battle throughout the race.
    No fight in the top 5, Vettel didn’t even threat Verstappen deapite having fresher tyres… Disappointing race in the end

    1. Those french cameramans perhaps were busy eating their freshly baked croissants with some hot chocolate!

  19. Hi,

    We see what F1 has become: endurance + “position switching”.
    Endurance? Drivers only manage tyres instead of trying to go fast (ex.: LEC on his radio “I could go faster but I won’t because it’s not good for the tyres”). Fun the TV drama about blistering and such: it’s been at least 2 years that we see MER with blisters and damaged tyres keeping the same pace, if not even faster…

    Pos. switching? What we see at turn 8 on this track are not “passes”: the DRS is so strong is it simply position switching.

    I never cared about seeing lots of position chagning, I do not care who wins. I care to see drivers pushing their car to the limit, passing the curves as fast as their cars can, struggling to keep it on the track. Sprinkle some trategy (there was a time when there was more than 1 doable strategy), a little of car management. This to me is F1.
    (BTW, if the cars were pushed to the limit, we’d see also more DNF…)

    1. Small precision: the remark on blistering is nothing agains MER, kudos to them for the good work; it’s just about the usual media coverage about “wow! look at that: blistering! That’s gonna be a problem… ” blahblahblah…

    2. @js The pace management has always been a part of F1 & isn’t even as big a factor today compared to how it was in the past when you had to manage tyres, brakes, gearboxes, engines, suspension & fuel.

      There’s an old adage that the object of an F1 race to win win while going at the slowest possible speed. Something many of the greats like Fangio, Moss, Prost, Clark & Stewart spoke about.

      1. @stefmeister of course; all depends the proportion of the part AND the kind of management.

        I’m sorry to see that during a qualification session today, you see one or two laps at full speed… Look at the qualifications of the 2006 French GP, you’ll see pilots pushing and fighting vs today: “oh, he passed me during my preparation lap! What a bad guy!”

        So much pace management that I remember Mansell losing a title while he could easily have cruised… And a team could do pace management on some track (win with 1 stop), and use full speed all race winning with 4 stops the next race (on a track with a short pitlane).

        And the management part was due to avoid DNF… Do we really need to put numbers to compare the evolution of DNF rates? Remove radio communications (except for safety, say) and you’ll see interesting management…

        1. @js tyre management was always there, but was not an issue since refuelling was allowed… today most of the management comes from fuel management and engine endurance! not just tyre management…tyre management is just the tip of the ice-berg… what makes you think if they didnt have to manage tyres, mercedes to run 1 lap ahead of the field? when they turn up their knobs, you usually find them 10 secs ahead within a few laps! imagine mercedes lapping the field by 1/3 or 1/2 of the way! i m not sure both merc drivers capable of it, but for sure hamilton is…

          1. @mysticus I agree. But the difference is then the proportion of management against other things: how much do you want of it. I think there’s too much now, including tyre management.
            Now, I ‘ve never driven an F1, I’m just sharing my point of view and feeling as a viewer (including being at the track, feeling the cars and the trajectories from up close)… But some former F1 drivers say it too about tyres, so I suppose this feeling is not complete non-sense.

            About MER it’s rather the problem of other teams rising to their level… I’m somehow fine with that, as long as there is some interesting battle somewhere in the field, and as long as a decent portion of the drivers are pushing to the limit during the race (not always, of course, but again, sufficiently often). Hard to blame a team for being good… but I believe there should be ways to have more DNF, to have the hardware pushed to the limit more often… Maybe I’m wrong.

          2. @js
            “Some former F1 drivers say it too about tyres, so I suppose this feeling is not complete non-sense.”

            Everyone are entitled to their opinions… That doesnt mean one is better than the other…

            People will complain about dominance no matter what! When Ferrari were dominant, i was watching and cheering for them. I watched RB/Vettel dominance, i never liked them but i watched it still… now mercedes is dominant… every era has different kind of dominance… merc just happened to dominate almost all areas! speed, tyre management, fuel management, engine management etc…

            If others doesnt want to make a risk, it is their problem… honda had so many years, redbull/renault had chance to get their act together… ferrari certainly knows how to make a good car, just management/drivers are lacking as a combo! they ve been keep favoring a driver like a god in the past… merc is letting them race until it is wrapped or its beyond toxic and damaging team… ferrari by favoring one over the other, damaging themselves… team is above the drivers, and should try n maximize both drivers’ chances… even favoring one driver, they dont manage it well!

        2. @stefmeister Sorry regarding qualifs: I wanted to link it to tyre management again: on many tracks, the tyres won’t even allow full speed on ONE lap. You see drivers making a purple S1 and then two yellow sectors; you hear them saying they have to take care of the tyres in S1 to put everything together on one lap… (the other comment just came to my mind while writing, and I ended-up writing it instead of this one! :) )

        3. First sentence should read “the difference is the amount and the type of management there is”, sorry for the non-sense writing… and pilots should be drivers…

  20. Boooooooooring

  21. Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
    23rd June 2019, 15:48

    dreary. This season has absolutely fallen dead after 2 encouraging opening races. 2018 was way better, even 2017 was less predictable

  22. 7/10.

    I didn’t think it was that bad, Sure it wasn’t super exciting but i’ve sat through far worse. We saw some good racing at times & the various little scraps at the end got my heart rate up a bit.

  23. gotta be the most forgetful race of the season so far.

    If Ric/Rai/Nor incident is left without penalties, the stewarding consistency is going to be again called into question. And this was probably the most exciting part of that race, for which it doesnt get a 1 from me. You see the problem here? This is what the whole incident in Canada created and why it was so bad for F1.

    1. @njoydesign

      then imagine it to be raining? like british gp in 2008… with current cars, i think hamilton would be doing his 2nd lap around all cars by the end! so dont wish too much excitement!

  24. Jackie’s trooooosers get a 10.

  25. Once again, where was Valtteri when the lights went out?

  26. Another boring race at no point did Mercedez seem like they had any challengers (ok maybe one slight possibility at the end between Leclerc and Bottas). Ferrari faster than Red Bull as long as they start in front and any interesting racing mostly missed by the tv feed! I really am wondering why I am paying Sky to watch this.

    1. it is not Sky, the TV feed is direct from F1, same for all broadcasters. I do agree though the director deserves a good spanking. And Crofty. Arghh his mistakes have become way too frequent.

  27. Easily my least favourite track even before this weekend and today has only reinforced that. 3/10. Utter dross even as a Lewis fan. Would have been 2 if not for that last lap battle for 7th (which the director laughably missed).

    1. This is what worries me. I’m a Lewis fan and found it dull – 3 at most. God knows what others must have thought.

      1. I would imagine only thing a Lewis fan would fun entertaining was the result sheet.

        There was 0 Lewis spectacle, that one could love and he could deliver. Just nursing blistering tyres and waiting for the end.

  28. Alex McFarlane
    23rd June 2019, 15:54

    2. Only because Sochi never fails to be the dullest race of the season.

  29. Highlight was Jackie Stewart’s birthday celebration

  30. Honestly, they have to do something for the spectators, to start enjoying the races. It’s a really waste of time and money for those who attend the grand prix and have really nothing to watch. My opinion and suggestion is that according to the place each team had the last championship, to have more days for testing either during pre season or during the season. Now, for thoose teams who cannot afford participating at theese extra days of testing, let them choose between extra hours of free practising at some grand prix. That’s my opinion, I understand that many will disagree with me, but there has to be a way for a team, to have the ability to try and test new things, during a season to be more competitive. P. S. Sorry for my bad language, it’s the first time I right something for f1, but this has to end.

    1. Hi,

      I don’t know the solution, but what I can say is that when being at a track in the V10/V8 era, just having the F1 cars pass near you was a treat… Even the slowest one on track, you were just thinking those guys where down crazy. The current generation of cars definitely does not create this feeling. That’s a big difference.

  31. Unbelievable that they succeeded in not broadcasting the only exciting moment of the race live.

  32. This was very dull. 4

  33. Neil (@neilosjames)
    23rd June 2019, 15:58

    Dismal race. One of those where I press the ‘fast forward’ button on my Sky remote in the hope I’d paused it for 10 minutes earlier on. Sadly I hadn’t.

    Nothing at the front, apart from a Grand Slam being ruined by the fastest lap gimmick and some ‘drama’ about some blisters. Midfield was a little better but too many of the passes were completed well before the braking zone, and watching an overtake with ‘replay’ in the corner of the screen is never as exciting as watching one live. And throughout all this ‘fun’, I had to stare at the hideous run-off areas of the ugliest track on the calendar.

    Gave it a four.

  34. Gave it a 6 because the midfield battle was very good.

  35. As is the case too often, not much enjoyment at the front but the midfield pack was fun at least.

    F1: 2 / 10
    F1.5: 7 / 10
    Overall: 5 (would have been 6 if they hadn’t fumbled away the live coverage of the NOR/RIC/KIMI fight at the end)

  36. bor1ng….gosh it’s really bad

  37. Total borefest except the last lap.

  38. That was dull, wasn’t it? Like one of those 90s or early 2000s races at Barcelona where nothing happened.

    1. To all Barcelona haters I will always say – wait for the worse at Zandvoort.

  39. And some people will still find a way to rate this higher than Canada.

  40. I’m liking the new Max, relaxed smiling, unlike Vettel he seems really at peace with things.

  41. On scale of 1 falling asleep and 10 edge of the seat it was a 2.

    I bearly stayed awake. Even fastest lap by Vettel was booring. Start was tardy, no crashes, almost no meaningful overtakes.

    When Kvyat provides for best entertainment, we know standards are low.

    I can imagine failing to stay awake might be more entertaining.

  42. Marvelous!
    7 from me. I would have given it 8, but the FLAP keeps bugging me out. I don’t have anything against Vettel taking the point, I am against the whole stupid idea of FLAP.
    Doesn’t give anything to the racing, and is just an artificial way to award one more point. Totally pointless. Pun intended.

    Rest of thoughts – ok, it was not nail-biting, but it was still a very nice race. Processional, yes, but because of masterclass from Lewis and Mercedes, and not quite small performance differences between the others.

    I don’t understand the haters, who say they are bored. You were not whining that Ferrari was winning in the beginning of 2000s, or when RBR destroyed the filed in 2010-2013… why are you whining now?
    Because Ferrari is not on the front, right? It is a hypocrisy, my dears.

    In those years I wasn’t entirely happy seeing Ferrari and RBR winning as much as they did, but I never complained that their superiority is damaging the sport – they just did the better job. I respected that. I appreciated (and especially do it now), that I have seen it with my own eyes – I’ve seen the history being made.

    If now Mercedes managed to redefine what is possible and keeps conquering F1 world and breaking records – I think we just need to accept this as a part of this cycle and marvel at the level of their performance. Maybe such period will never happen again – appreciate that you have witnessed it firsthand.

  43. It’s like the whole sport is in limbo waiting until the regulations change or Hamilton retires. There’s no point even changing Gasly because Red Bull are stuck in 3rd place.

  44. SIX people have voted 7/10!! Must have been watching another race…. LOL

  45. If wouldn’t be right for me to give the race a rating because for the first time ever watching an F1 ‘race’ I dozed off around lap 8 and slept through till lap 40 then could not force myself to stay awake dozing off again until the post race interviews came on. I must be getting old, that would explain it.

  46. Expected better…gave it a 3…A race it wasnt…a procession would be a better description…Bottas..who looked worn out at the end..just tailed off as he got further behind..how to lose your drive for next season…Vettel looked to be sulking all weekend…probably understandable…and Mclaren are back ..well at the top of midfield..Think Lewis needs to start from the pitlane to give us a race to watch…

  47. Gave it a 4 and was generous. F1 is in a sorry state right now, it’s awful, awful, awful. Watched the race with a delay so I could FFW, and was sorry I didn’t FFW more. Seriously, I don’t know how much can I hold on in vain hope that it gets better and just give up on this waste of time altogether. Pinnacle of motorsport? Yeah right…

  48. I enjoyed the race. It was quite relaxing. I slept on lap 5 and woke up 2 lap before the end because Crofty was trying to make it interesting. After 19 years of watching the sport with interest, I believe the sport has reached its rock bottom.

  49. Yawn. 3 as I’m drunk and was seeing double so I guess it’s actually a 1.5.

  50. 3/10, the race was as interesting as this season. Boring races, dominant team/driver dominating and the competitiveness of the field is very low. Was really looking forward to this year with Ferrari quickest in testing, Honda looking promising, Renault threatening to become an occassional podium factor and Kubica’s comeback. This is all very disappointing.

  51. Massive performance of Lewis. It looked like he was alone on the track. But was this a F1 race? a 10 today because I slept like a baby after lap 10.

  52. no actual racing, more penalty controversy and still the same lockdown f1.

  53. I won’t stop watching F1. But if I did, this race would be the benchmark.

  54. Maybe we can give Hamilton and Mercedes the titles now and tell them to stay at home for the rest of the season. Might be a pretty exciting championship after that. Ferrari and RedBull is serious combat and Renault, Racing Point and Toro Rosso or Haas all fighting for points and a podium. I might actually start enjoying watching F1 again.

  55. 👎

  56. Boring as hell. I normally consider a 5 as an average and anything above as good.. This was a 3. Dull, processional and apart from Mclaren looking tasty, this was awful. I believe Hamilton is incredible, I believe Mercedes is incredible, but it is boring now. And i couldnt even see the tarmac of the track because of the endless runoff. Boring

  57. 3/10. I have been watching F1 for over 30 years and this was one of the poorest races I have ever seen. But for the slight excitement in the last 2 laps it could have been even lower.

    It’s just all too easy for Mercedes and Hamilton in particular.

  58. 4/10 and that’s generous.

  59. 2.
    And I’m being very generous.
    F1 bosses should stop adding races and solve its “boringness” first.

  60. How can it get any worse than this? Zero drama in this race whatsoever.

    My worst rated GP ever.

  61. I think it’s time to get back refuelling. The speed of the drivers would be different also due to different fuel loads and some slower teams will get more chances to pass through due to different weight. And they would be limited adaptabilty in strategy. Now everyone can sit and wait when that guy will pit stop or when I would get the window to pit. With the fuel ending – you will have to pit regardless of the track situation.

    You will have the choice – get more fuel and flexibility in strategy but less speed, of less fuel and more speed.

  62. Just traffic. I can see that for free.

  63. I don’t know…it was just… a race. a forgettable one, but I don’t get too irritated when we are not inondated with overtakes and action. plus the last 2 laps where quite intense nonetheless. a plain 6 for me. you can’t have brazil 2012 or 2008 every race

  64. Horrible. Just horrible. I mean even the Sky commentators were bored. Even suggesting Bernies idea of sprinklers to make something happen.

  65. Extremely dull. The commentators got excited about a bollard on track….sums it up really

  66. Ahaha, the 3 voters won!

    This time I voted 3 and unlike canada where were it not for the penalty I could’ve given 8,5, this was a genuine 3, it was an absolutely terrible race, I was gonna give it 1 but a battle close to the front towards the end and one for the last points positions gave it 2 points, it’s the kind of stuff that raises the mark quickly but too little too late! 17 17 22 15 14 10 and 5% are the voters for the marks from 1 to 7, and then 1% who voted 10 must be hamilton’s or mercedes fan, not an overwhelming outlier, obviously the total gives 101 but there must be some rounding up and down.

  67. I think that Channel 4 must have done a brilliant job with the UK highlights package for the French GP, as judging from race reports, various comments and the poll results this was a very dull and processional race with nothing of excitement and one of the worst races in recent years.

    However while I did not think this was in anyway a great race, when I was watching it I was not bored as I sometimes can be with races such as this.

    A Hamilton victory was hardly in doubt after he made a good start and retained the lead and the top order was also virtually guaranteed from that point even with Vettel starting further down the grid than he should have.

    But there were some battles further down and while most overtakes seemed that they were straight forward DRS moves there was still enough going on to keep me entertained.

    I am not really sure why I thought this race was okay, there have been other races such as this with a dominant Hamilton win and the only action in the midfield where I have been bored and could not wait for the race to finish.

    In the end I decided to rate the race a 5.5 although straight after the race it probably would have been a 6 or higher.

    Apart from the fact everyone was saying how boring this race was the other main talking point was that for the second race in a row there was some controversy with time penalties added on after the chequered flag, but this time at least I thought they were a lot more obvious and clear-cut.

    I know some have said that Ricciardo should not have received both of his five second penalties which dropped him out of the points but I think both were justified, as soon as I saw the footage for the first time I said to myself it should be a penalty for both incidents.

    Firstly Ricciardo went off track trying to overtake Norris and when he came back on he forced Norris to take evasive action which resulted in Norris losing places, given what had happened with Vettel in the previous race I could not see how they couldn’t penalize Ricciardo for this, especially as Norris lost out more than Hamilton did.

    Secondly Ricciardo’s pass on Raikkonen, Ricciardo had fully regained control of his car so this was definitely a second separate incident and not a continuation of the first incident, and Ricciardo just completely went off the circuit to get by Raikkonen, if that wasn’t punished then you may as well just let the drivers drive where ever they choose rather than stay between the white lines.

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